I am sure a lot of research has been done into yawning (cf. measuring those 68 seconds)...but I do have a difference in viewpoint. In my case, at least, yawning is definitely a sign of progressively getting bored ...or sleepy...or both. Perhaps my brain is trying to get extra oxygen into my bloodstream and thence into itself; but as I continue yawning, it's obvious that it's waging a losing battle, as my eyes refuse to keep open, the environment around me swims in and out of my consciousness, and soon, without even knowing it myself, I am asleep. When I am going from sleepiness to wakefulness, I do not yawn.
No orator looking dejectedly at the yawns of his bored (and sleepy) audience could ever convince hesself otherwise. And I am now waiting for the research into the fact that our eyes must close at the fullest extent of the yawn....how to keep them open afterwards? Deepa. On 7/4/07, Ved Prakash Vipul <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
On Jul 4, 2007, at 12:20 AM, Biju Chacko wrote: > On 7/4/07, Ved Prakash Vipul <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> measure), 3) spontaneous yawning is performed by fetuses in the womb, >> but kids don't learn contagious yawns until several years after >> birth. > > I've noticed that my son's yawning may cause me to yawn but not vice > versa. I guessed it developed later. The question is, is it a reflex > that takes some time to develop or is a learned behavior? IIRC, the authors differentiate between spontaneous yawning and contagious yawning (the reflex to propagate a spontaneous yawn). So, perhaps, contagious yawning is learnt and spontaneous yawning is instinctive.
